I leaned into the desk when we got to English class, as the teacher droned on and on about the syllabus. I'd done a lot of thinking today, and my mind was tired, from all that planing and attempts at being sneaky. I leaned a bit more forward, my eyelids growing heavier, but not so heavy I didn't see Eli's back, his dark hair from behind. He looked back at me every so often, but stopped when he saw how tired I was and kept forward, to not look conspicuous. I haven't had such a terrible first day... ever.

"Okay, this year you're partners will be..." Our English teacher scrambled for her board, her preset partners.

I sighed and lifted my head up a bit, this was so out of character for me. And of course it was here, when I was completely out of place, I was the only sophomore in this classroom. Finally, the teacher made a satisfied sound and lifted her board.

"Okay, partners are Amy and James, Carlos and Emily, Camilla and Alexander, Elijah and Clare."

That's when I stopped listening, did she just say? Was there another Elijah here? I bit my lip and looked up, wide awake from that little shock and the sight of Eli, turning to smirk at me. I shook my head slowly, moving my eyes down to my hands.

This is just great, I thought to myself, ignoring our teacher as she called out all the other English partners.

Finally, she caught my attention again, when she started speaking about our first assignment. "You and you're partner will need to know each other pretty well this year, if you expect to survive high school." She stopped while some people chucked, although I was chewing my lip, praying it wouldn't be too bad.

"So you're gonna," she paused. "Excuse me, going to, learn about them, about where they grew up, their pet peeves, their favorite bands. Those small things that really help you learn about them."

Eli turned to me and shrugged, a gesture that was supposed to mean, "This shouldn't be too bad." But I shook my head as she continued.

"This is going to be personal, since you will know your partner personally." I rolled my eyes, was that supposed to be clever? "And then you'll write a paper on them."

I raised an eyebrow. I was really supposed to know my little social experiment enough that I can write a paper on him? That didn't seem so bad, but I wasn't sure how much I wanted him to know about me, he would know about my parents fighting, my sister, the person I really am. I shut my eyes and played with my hands, wondering how this would all unwind.

Because, I knew it wouldn't be good.

I yawned, turning over again in my bed. I had spent all week wondering what I would learn about Eli, and he promised that we would just spend Saturday together and we would learn everything we needed for the paper then. It was Saturday morning, and suddenly, I wasn't worried about what I would learn about Eli, I was worried about actually having to get up.

"Clare-bear?" A voice asked softly. My mother.

"Mmm?" I'd meant to speak actual words, but they wouldn't form. I shook my head and let my curls fall untidily around my head. It would take forever to brush them out.

"Honey, you're friend is here."

Alli? What was Alli doing here so early in the morning? She was almost never up this early. I sat up and huffed, shaking my curls out of my eyes. I looked at my mom who smiled slightly.

"You might wanna dress up for this one. He's a cutie." Then she winked, closing the door. I raised an eyebrow. Cutie?

I shook my head and got dressed quickly, making sure to move fast so I could get into the bathroom and spend at least ten minutes trying to calm my hair. Then I went down the stairs, making sure to look in the mirror, it was okay, and it wasn't going to get any better. Then I saw the "cutie".

"Eli?"

Is that a cliffhanger? I'm not sure xD

Tell me what you think(: